


Shiver

by Wolfcry22



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Coughing, Fever, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-IT Chapter Two (2019), Protective Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier is a Mess, Sick Character, Sick Richie Tozier, Sickfic, Tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24799939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfcry22/pseuds/Wolfcry22
Summary: Richie is so cold and feverish, and the loving Eddie stays up all night cuddling with him, making herbal tea and giving medicine until he falls asleep.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 4
Kudos: 90





	Shiver

**Author's Note:**

> It’s been a little bit since I’ve written an IT story, but I had a sudden urge and decided to revisit this. Minor warning for language and mention of sickness.

The bed slightly shook and that caused Eddie to wake up. He blinked his eyes in surprise when he saw the man beside him trembling so much that he was shaking the bed as much as if they were doing something else. If Eddie didn’t know any better, he would think that the man beside him was having a seizure. 

Eddie sat upright and reached his hand over in the darkness. He felt the shoulder of the man beside him, trailing his hand up his neck and finally to his forehead. He rested his hand on the man’s forehead before feeling his cheeks afterwards with the back of his hand. “Damn, Rich. You’re a little warm.” 

Richie didn’t stir even when Eddie tried to talk to him. He just continued to chatter madly in his sleep, which told Eddie that the fever was higher than Eddie would’ve liked. There was no way that Eddie could just leave him there and do nothing. 

He stifled a sigh as he turned so that he was facing the edge of the bed. He threw the covers off of himself and sat up straight. He stretched his arms over his head and felt his back strain in discomfort. He shook his head to clear it before stepping onto the ground. The cool tile pulsed through his feet, but he would go through any degree of discomfort if it meant helping Richie. 

Eddie tried his best to tiptoe out of the darkness of the room and into the hallway. He made his way into the bathroom and switched on the light. He opened the medicine cabinet that was behind the sink mirror and quickly found a thermometer. He also took the liberty of wetting a washcloth with cool water so that he could try to lower Richie’s temperature without having to solely rely on medication if it came to that.

Eddie headed back into the hallway and tried his best to avoid the tiles that he knew creaked in their small apartment that they shared. He made his way back to the bedroom to see that Richie was still laying there, muttering in his sleep as he shivered and slightly shook. Beads of sweat wet the hair on Richie’s bangs and made it cling to his forehead. More sweat settled on his upper lip while his breathing seemed to be raspy and wheezing as it struggled from Richie’s lungs.

A sickening feeling of dread rose up inside of Eddie. Millions of thoughts rushed through his mind of what could be wrong. Could it be pneumonia? Bronchitis? Meningitis? Strep? Mono? So many illnesses presented with fever besides the flu and every one of them could be dangerous if not treated. He was well aware of Richie’s aversion to doctors and medicine in general, but he doubted that Richie was in any state to refuse Eddie’s suggestions at that given time.

Eddie had thought that Richie was fine the night before when he went to bed. Sure, he had gone to sleep a little earlier than usual and hadn’t been nearly as talkative at dinner or during their subsequent TV watching time afterwards. Eddie just thought that Richie was tired from one of his shows and he now knew that that hadn’t been the case. Eddie mentally cursed himself for not realizing that something was off with Richie sooner and maybe being able to avoid all of this. 

He pushed those thoughts away as he lowered down in front of the still sleeping Richie. He took the cool wash cloth and gingerly wiped Richie’s forehead and moved his sweaty bangs from his forehead with the gentlest of strokes. “Oh, Richie. What am I going to do for you?”

Richie slightly shifted in his sleep before slowly opening his eyes. Shock showed on his face as he saw Eddie standing kneeled in front of him. “E-Eds,” Richie questioned with his teeth chattering.

“Hey, Trashmouth,” Eddie murmured as he moved the washcloth to the back of Richie’s neck, right under where his curly hair fell. 

Richie’s mind seemed to move sluggishly as he tried to figure out what Eddie was doing kneeling in front of him with a washcloth clutched tightly in his hands. He swallowed thickly and felt as if he had swallowed glass. “Did I wake you,” Richie rasped.

Eddie shook his head as he lifted his hand to brush some of Richie’s bangs back behind his ear gently, only to have it bounce back. “No, no, I had to get up to use the bathroom and that was when I noticed that something was off with you.”

Richie sniffled as he lifted his head from under one of his hands. He raised it to his face and rubbed at his nose and then leaned his head back against his hand. “I’m fine, just tired. Just need to go back to sleep,” he mumbled as he tried to roll onto his back.

Eddie grasped his shoulder before he could do so and pulled him back to face him. “Wait. Just let me take your temperature to put my mind at ease, alright?” 

Richie was too tired to come up with a good enough reason to argue. His eyes were already beginning to close. “Okay, okay. Whatever you say.”

Eddie rolled his eyes as he reached over to pat at Richie’s cheeks. Richie groaned as he let out a weak cough against the pillow. The hair on the back of Eddie’s neck stood straight up in fear as he slightly fumbled in an attempt to pull the casing from the thermometer. He managed to wriggle it free before lifting it up to Richie’s mouth. Richie reached out his free hand that wasn’t under his head and used it to place the thermometer under his tongue. 

The two waited until the thermometer beeped. Eddie reached out to pull the thermometer from Richie’s mouth and frowned when he looked at the reading. “102.7. That’s a lot higher than I’d like it,” Eddie announced as a tremor of fear rushed up his spine. 

Richie blinked his eyes in surprise when he saw how scared Eddie seemed to be. He stretched out his shaky hand and grasped Eddie’s, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Am I going to make it, Dr. K.”

“Don’t joke about that, asshole,” Eddie snapped although a light did travel to his eyes. If Richie was feeling good enough to joke, then he couldn’t be feeling too terrible. “I will take care of you, but we need to get that temperature down.”

“Down,” echoed Richie in surprise. “But I’m fucking freezing!” The exclamation caused a cough to bubble inside of him and grate his throat in the process. He winced in the aftermath and brought up a hand to his throat, softly groaning. 

Eddie noticed and frowned once more. “Throat hurt too?”

Richie shrugged. “A bit,” he choked out between even more painful sounding coughs. He pitched forward on his side as it seemed that the fit was never going to end.

Eddie immediately reached forward and grasped Richie’s shoulders. “Come on. Let’s get you sitting up. It’s easier to breathe that way.” He hauled Richie into sitting position before propping pillows up behind him so that he wasn’t leaning just on the hard wood of their bed. 

Richie continued to cough into a raised fist with his eyes squeezed shut in discomfort. When he had finally composed himself, he glanced over to Eddie with his mouth gaped open in and attempt to breathe a little easier. “Says you,” Richie rasped.

“You’re congested in your lungs and it’s making it difficult.” Eddie thought back to what Myra used to do to him. He shuddered when he realized that Myra did everything out of fear for illness and not to take care of Eddie. Eddie shoved down all thoughts of Myra to focus on the man that cared for him and whom he cared for that was laying in front of him. He sighed as he readjusted the washcloth that had fallen from Richie’s neck. “You just rest here and I’m going to get you some medicine and tea. Hang tight.”

Richie grunted in response as he grabbed the comforter and sheets and brought it up to his chin. He was shaking in cold and longed to be able to go back to sleep. However, he knew that Eddie would just shake him awake and that would be even more frustrating than waiting up for him. 

This hadn’t been Richie’s goal so soon after coming back from Derry. It had been a shock to get the news that Eddie was alive and things had moved rather quickly after that. The two had moved in and had traveled together for Richie’s shows. They had taken a break for the Christmas season, which was only a week away. Richie had been hoping to spend time with Eddie and maybe even the other Losers as well. Now it seemed that whatever virus he had was hellbent on making things difficult for him. 

“Why does this always happen to me,” Richie grumbled while his throat seemed to throb in protest. 

He didn’t have to wait long for Eddie to return with a cup of tea and some Tylenol. He smiled over to Richie as he walked over to the nightstand by Richie’s side and turned on the small lamp. “This should help your fever and soothe your throat.”

Richie raised an eyebrow as he was handed two round pills as well as the cup of tea. “I’m not usually a tea drinker. Have anything stronger?” 

Eddie nodded. “Yeah, tea with honey.” He lifted his hand and pushed the tea against Richie’s chest. “You’ll have plenty of time to drink later. For now you need something that makes you feel better, not worse.”

Richie muttered mockingly under his breath as he tossed the pills into into the back of his throat and brought the liquid up to his lips. He swallowed it down before slightly grimacing. “Then why are you giving me this shit?” He handed the tea back and was about to laugh before his lungs seemed to protest. He instantly started coughing again and it shook his entire body as well as the bed. 

Eddie quickly walked around to his side of the bed and climbed into bed beside Richie. He pulled himself over to him and wrapped his arms around Richie’s shoulders a she continued to cough. He pulled Richie even more into a sitting position and helped rest his head against Eddie’s shoulder. Richie whimpered and tried to swallow the coughs so that he didn’t send Eddie into a panic.

It only took Eddie a moment to realize what Richie was doing. He sighed as he rested his hand on the back of Richie’s back and rubbed up and down reassuringly. “Hey, hey, it’s aright. Lean against me.” 

“Don’t.....want.....to......get.....you.....sick,” Richie sputtered between swallow coughs that threatened to bubble out of him at a moment’s notice.

Eddie rolled his eyes. “I have the best immune system of anyone that I know, unlike you. A cold seems to be the only thing that you can catch these days.” He realized that trying to turn this into banter with Richie wasn’t the way to go. “What I mean is, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m just worried about you.”

Richie finally managed to quit coughing, but that didn’t do anything for the fever. He was now shivering madly against Eddie and almost whimpering as he stretched out his legs feebly and curled his toes downward in discomfort. Eddie noticed as he rubbed Richie’s shoulder. “Muscle aches?” 

“My fucking bones hurt,” Richie answered through such a raspy tone to his voice that Eddie could barely hear him. The only thing that helped him understand Richie was that Richie was constantly doing his voice impersonations and now he just sounded like a chain smoker. 

Eddie nodded in understanding. “That’s the fever, but the Tylenol should be able to help with the ache. For now just try to get some rest and we’ll see if that lowers your fever.”

“I don’t know if I can sleep,” complained Richie. Although, his eyes began to flutter while he stifled an almost painful yawn while gritting his teeth.

Eddie chuckled. “I know that you can. Just lean against me.” He shifted so that they were both into a slightly reclined position so that Richie could still breathe and it wouldn’t crane his neck. 

“There you go,” Eddie continued as Richie turned to almost press his face into the side of Eddie’s neck. Eddie could feel his breathing while he lifted a hand to thread it through Richie’s naturally disheveled hair. “Shhh, shhhh. Just try to close to your eyes and get some sleep. I’ll be right here when you wake up and if you need anything. Okay?”

Richie hummed in agreement. “What would I do without you, Eddie Spaghetti?”

Eddie opened his mouth to argue about the stupid nickname, but he quickly thought better of it. He didn’t need to banter with Richie when he felt so poorly. “Probably be a shivering mess if I had to guess,” Eddie answered as he leaned over to plant a kiss on top of Richie’s head. “But, you’re my shivering mess and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Richie let out a low murmur of agreement as he began to drift off. Eddie waited until his breathing seemed to even before he even thought about trying to get some sleep himself. There was no way that either of them would make it to work the next day. Richie wouldn’t be overly fond of that, but Eddie would force him to rest. Richie wouldn’t be able to refuse him that especially if Eddie was going to lie in bed with him all day. That was Richie’s perfect scenario. Eddie just had to remind him of that.

Richie’s congested snores started to lull Eddie to sleep as he closed his eyes and drifted into a peaceful slumber with the love of his life at his side.

**Author's Note:**

> This was just something small that I’ve been meaning to write. I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed writing them. I’m going to try to get back into writing IT stories while still writing for the other fandoms I’m apart of. I hope that you all enjoyed this story and are staying safe and healthy!


End file.
